Concrete-mixer.



C. W. LEVALLEY.

CONCRETE MIXER.

PPLIOATION FILED 141111.29, 1910.

1,067,042, Patented July 8, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

` Snuenroz Witwen/255% c e. @AMY /j/ f5. 5W

C. W. LEVALLBY.

CONCRETE MIXER..

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 29, 1910.

Patented July 8, 1913.

4 SHBETBSHEET 2.

Jwn Matez /hva l lnnnvl Evil/weones G. W; LEVALLEY. coNRETB MIXER. APPLIOATIO FILED MAR. 29, 1910.

1,067,042, Patented July 8, 1913.

4 SHEETS--SHBET 3.

w. m l M W@ C. W. LEVALLEY.

CONCRETE MIXER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1910.

Patented July 8, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEEP 4 rectly associated with pivrrnn STATES rATENT' OFFICE.

CHRISTOPHER w. LEVALLEY, or MILWAUKEE, wIsconsIN.l

CONCRETE-mixen.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenten July s, isis'.-

Application led March 29, 191'0. Serial No. 552,128.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER IV. Ln-y vALLEY, a citizen of ythe United States, re?

reference to theirl being applied to machines for mixin concrete.

It has Ior its object to improve mechanism of this character in the several pan ticulars to be hereinafter pointed out, whereby the machines embodying such improvements are ,rendered exceedingly eliicient in operation and simple in construction, and of such nature as to be producedat relatively low cost.

The improvements are shown as applied to a concrete mixing machine, similar in its general features to the machine forming the basis 'of my pending applications, Nos. 461,891 and 500,34), filed respectively, No# vember 10,'1908,`and June 5, 1909, though I do not'wish to beunderstood as limiting my vinvention inits useful applications to ma-l chines for mixing concrete, as some, orall, of the features tobe described are applicable to machines adaptedto operate upon other material, as for instance to rumbles for cleaning or polishing small `metallic articles.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my improvements. Fig.. 2 isa perspective detail View illustrating the means einployed for arresting `the tilting loader in proper position to deliver to the drum. Fig, is a front view of the machine,rthe tilting loader being removed. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the apparatus, parts being broken away. Fig. 5 is a rear end View of the apparatus. Fig. 6 `is an elevation from the front ofthe guard plate located-at the feed end of the machine.l Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showingelements of the apparatus connected to or d1- the guard plate. Fig.

8 is a detail view of the cut-off orsplash `curtain employed at the discharge end of the machine.

In the drawings 2 designates a revolving `mixing drumband the loa drum or cylinder in which 4tlie materials to be operated upon are placed for mixing.A As the invention is adapted to be applied to -or used in connect-ion, with mixing machines intended to operate upon a wide ,variety of materials, the eonstruction'and character of the drum may be modified to suit the use to which it is put. For purposes of illustration I have chosen the revolvingr drum ofa concrete mixing machine, which is supported and driven in any usual or preferred way. It is represented as'being supported upon a portable truck 3 which also carries the framework for a tilting loader 4. The mixing drum is formed with axialiopenii-igs in its ends, that at the feed end being designated 7 and that at the discharge end 8. The tilting loader 4 which receives the ingredients that are to enter into a batch of 'concrete and delivers them' through the feed opening into the mixing drum, is supported upon a shaft 9 mounted in suit-able brackets carried 'by' the front upright pieces 10 of the framework surrounding the drum'. The loader is l'provided with a pivoted bail 11, the cross barl 12 of which carries' the sheave or pulley'l around which passes the cable 14 by means of which the,` movements of the loader are controlled.

In Fig. 1 the loader is represented in full lines in the position it occupies when' receiving a charge of material, it resting firmly vupon theground. ll/Vhen it is desired' to discharge the contents of the loader into the drum, draft is applied to the cableand the loader lifted into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, when the materials will freely pass through the feed opening into fthe mixing drum. In order to arrest the loader in the proper position for discharging I provide the upper end of the framework with a pair of stops'15 supported by the frame pieces 16 and arranged to 4lie one on yeither side of and adjacentto the head sheaves or pulleys 17. With these stop bars there engage blocks or contact pieces in engagement in Ilig. 2, t e loader .being then elevated into discharging position.4

The front end wall 19 of the mixing drinn is provided with an outward extending flange 2() flaring toward the'interior of the drum land surrounding the feed opening 7. A guard plate 21 is interposed between the er, beingsecured j to the uprights of the frame with `its' lower edge preferably a little below a horizontal line bisecting thefeed opening 7. A

section of the lower portion of this guaid plate is removed, forming-a recess 22 which is located oppositeto the feed opening, and. along the upper edge of this recess and carried by -t-heguard plate is a section 24 of a stationary Hange which extends into vthe feed opening and lies close tothe revolving -flange- 2O carried bythe drum. l The sta- -tionary flange, is completed by alower segmental section 25secured vto the plate 21 and shaped to close the recess 22 on yits lower s ide. Itconstitutes a short chute 31'into which theloader discharges when lifted into dumping position. The flange 20 of the drum is provided with a lip 26 which flaresoutward and constitutes a drip ring at the feed end of the drum. A shield or apron 27 supported by the framework is arranged -with its curved upper edge below the lower segment of the lip-2,6, being located in the exterior angle or groovebetween the said lip and the flange which carries it, so that any everilow from the drinn at itsfeed end,

- or any drip from the lip 26, is caught by the said shield or apron and carried thereby away from the drum, thus preventing concrete from running'down the end and accumulating upon the track 28, with which enf g 'ge the drum-supporting wheels frontAI end of the machine.4 There are secured tothe front face of thel 5 at the plate 21 a pair of flanges 29, arranged upon either side of the opening 22 and flaring in an upward direction. The spout section of 4the loader fits between these flanges when turned up 'into the discharging position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and they operate to prevent the spilling or waste of gtending between the frame pieces 10 and serving as a support or rest for a connection -or coupling 33 which is interposed between the end of the water pipe 30 and the discharge nozzle 34, which issecured to or `formed integral with the lower section 25 of the stationary flange. The connecting piece 33 is secured to this lower section of thestationary flange, or, preferably, to both it and the cross piece 32, so that the guard plate 21, iw.. stationary ange carried thereby, and the water connection 33, are all fastened together, and may be assembled 1n the shop in complete form ready for appli- ,6 5

cation to a machine. By making the'p'arts or removed therefrom without taking them apart.

A'flange 36 surrounds the discharge opening 8 of the drum and constitutes a, drip ring which may be-either integral with the end; wall or separate and secured thereto. A stationary shield 37 attached to the frame- .wo-rk near the rear end of the drum is arwhen occupying onejposition-that repre# sented in full lines in 4'-it serves to catch and deliver out'of the drum the matevria-l which has been acted upon .and mixed,

and which is by the revolution of the drum elevated and delivered intol the chute.' 1When adjusted to another position-*that represented in dotted lines, Fig. 4, the matie'- rial elevated and delivered to the chute is conducted by the latter back' towardthe center of the drum, instead of being carried out of the inachine, the inclination of the chute then being inward, that is to say, its lower end is lthe one withinl the drum, whereas when adjusted to discharge, its lowerl end is the one outside.

39, 39 represent stationary upright frame pieces supported adjacent to the rear end of the drum. To these are attached bracket pieces 40 from which is supported a plate 41 that is setinto 'the discharge opening 8 .of the drumv and operates to closethe lower segment thereof. The plate isv preferably shaped to leaveunclosed `the upper part of the opening S and to permit'the passage through it of the discharge chute 38. This chute preferably has one ofits side walls the. one next the materiallifting side of the drum, Vcut away at its inner end as indicated at 42, Fig. 4, for the purpose of permitting the more ready delivery to the chute of the material being treated within the drum. The wall opposite this cut away section is however of full size and dimensions to retain and guide the material. The chute is preferably hinged directly to the closing plate 41 which is provided with lugs 43, registering with lugs 44 carried by the chute. and through which lugs pass the pivot pins 45. The mechanism for adjusting the discharge chute consists.preferably of a shaft 46 mounted in brackets carried by the upright pieces 39 and provided with a handle 4.7 or equivalent means for operating it, zal with cranks 48 which are connected'by iks 4twith the chute. A pin or pins 50 located in the frame pieces 39, 39 serve as sto s for arresting the movements of the disc arge chute in its two positions of use. These pins areso located that when the chute is turned into the discharging position the cranks 48 come into engagement with the pins and are arrested thereby, holding .the parts in proper osition for discharging. When the chute is adjusted to the dotted line position of Fig. lt-that for turning the material back toward the center of the drum for further miXing,-the pins engage with the upper edges of the side walls of the chute and thus arrest and hold it.

In order to prevent the materialbeing operated upon from escaping through the segnieiit of the discharge opening above the chute, the portion left open by the closing plate 41, I employ a splash curtain 51 formed preferably of meta-l and hung upon the shaft 46 with its end extending downward into the chute 38. It will be seen by reference to the drawings, that 'material which may escape through the upper part of the discharge opening S will be caught by t-he apron or curtain 51 and b v it directed downward into the chute whether the latter be adjusted to one or the other of its two operative posit-ions.

I do not in this case claim thc loading mechanism and the stop for arresting it in discharging position which are herein illustrated, because I have made these features the subject-matter of a separate application filed November 12, 1912, and bearing Serial Xo'. 735,958, such application being a division of this case. VNor do I herein claim the stationary guard plate located adjacent to the feed end of the drum provided with. a flange surrounding the opening therethrough and entering the opening in the drum, and inclined inwardly and downwardly toward the interior of the drum, thus forming with the feed opening into the drum a close running joint; nor the combination with such guard plate of a short downwardly and inwardly inclined chute carried by the plate and located in the lower segment of the opening therethrough, and serving as a rest for the edge of a tilting loader for the drum; nor the combination with the drum of the stationary guard plate carrying a chute that enters the drum, a 'movable loader arranged to charge 'the drum and adapted to have its edge rest upon the said chute, and a feed water pipe arranged to deliver into the drluin below the chute, the chute extending inwardly beyond the end of the water pipe; as such features are made the subjects-matter of and are claimed in my co-pending application No. 500,311.9, tiled June 5, 1909.

What I claim is: Y 1. In. combination with a revolving drum having an axial feed opening at one end, a

stationary guard plate substantially verti- 'cally disposed and locatedclose to the feed end of the drum, a section of the plate opposite the feed opening and extending from its lower edge upwardly being removed, and a short segmental" chute secured to the plate and closing the opening in the guard plate produced by removing the aforesaid section thereof, the chute extending into the drum.

2. In combination with a revolving drum having a feed opening, `a stationary plate located close tothe feed end of the drinn and with its lower'edge `opposite the feed opening, a section ofthe lower Vpart of the plate being removed to constitute a recess opposite the `feed opening, a flange carried by the ,plate surrounding the upper edge of the said recess, a segmental flange section secured to the plate and arranged to close the said recess on its lower side, the said segmental flange sect-ion carrying a short chute for directing material into the drum, andV being provided also with a waterfnozzle below the said chute,.adapted to receive a water pipe connection.

3. In combination with a revolving drum having a feed opening at one end, ofa stationary guard plate substantially vertically disposed and located close to the feed end of I the drum, the plate having an opening through it registering with the feed opening into the drum, and a pair of anges on the outer face of the-plate arranged at the opposite-sides of the opening therein and extending upward froni said opening and arranged to receive between them and fit the spout end of a loader when it is moved into discharging position.

4. The combination with a mixing drum, having an axial opening in its end wall, of an adjustable chute extending through the vsaid opening arranged when occupying one position to receive material lifted by the drum and deliver it out of the machine and when adjusted to another position to receive material llifted by the drum and convey it back toward the central portion thereof, and a splash curtain setting opposite the said opening `into the drum and pivotally supported above the chute into which its lower edge extends and arranged to intercept mat-erial which may be thrown out of the druin and direct it into the discharge chute to `whichever position the-latter may be ad- `jus ted.

CHRISTOPHER W. LEVALLEY. Witnesses:

A W. N. CooHRANE, R. P. DEMMER. 

